Magic! (stylized in all uppercase) is a Canadian

reggae fusion Reggae fusion is a genre of reggae that mixes reggae and/or dancehall with other genres, such as pop, rock, hip hop, R&B, jazz, funk, soul, disco, electronic and latin. Origin Although artists have been mixing reggae with other genres from as ...

band based in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. The band is composed of lead vocalist, guitarist/producer Nasri Atweh, guitarist/keyboardist Mark "Pelli" Pellizzer, and bassist Ben Spivak. Active since 2012, the band is signed with Latium,

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

, and

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also ...

, releasing their debut studio album '' Don't Kill the Magic'' in 2014, their second studio album '' Primary Colours'' in 2016, and their third studio album ''Expectations'' in 2018. They are best known for their hit single " Rude", which charted at No. 1 in several countries worldwide, including the US and UK. The band is heavily inspired by

the Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Polic ...

and

Bob Marley and the Wailers Bob Marley and the Wailers (previously known as The Wailers, and prior to that The Wailing Rudeboys, The Wailing Wailers and The Teenagers) were a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae band. The founding members, in 1963, were Bob Marley (Robert ...

. They are known for having a signature

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

-influenced

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...

sound.

History

Early years

All members of the band are from the

area of Canada. The lead singer of Magic!, Nasri, had worked with and written songs for different

acts prior to the start of the band, mainly alongside

Adam Messinger Adam "Messy" Messinger is a Grammy Award-winning Canadian songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist currently based in Los Angeles, California. He is a producer for Canadian reggae band Magic!, but was initially a producer/songwriter ...

, together known as the Messengers. He met Mark Pellizzer in the studio and within a week they wrote the song " Don't Judge Me" for

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to ''Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempor ...

. Nasri described the chemistry between himself and Pellizzer as "different than writing chemistry, it was more artistic." A few weeks later, while Mark was playing a reggae tune on the guitar, Nasri suggested starting a band like "modern-day

Police The police are a Law enforcement organization, constituted body of Law enforcement officer, persons empowered by a State (polity), state, with the aim to law enforcement, enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citize ...

." Next to join the band was Alex Tanas. He and Mark Pellizzer knew each other, since they both had been members of the Justin Nozuka band for several years. Prior to joining Magic!, Ben Spivak had been playing with the Toronto-base
Julian Taylor Band
releasin
Never Gonna Give You Up
in 2012. Julian Taylor and Jeremy Elliot had enjoyed success playing in Staggered Crossing with "Further Again" hitting #6 in 2001 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart.

2013–15: ''Don't Kill the Magic''

Magic!'s debut single " Rude" was released on October 12, 2013. The song peaked at number six on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record ...

and also proved a great international success, topping the charts in the United States and the United Kingdom and peaking within the top ten of the charts in Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden. "Don't Kill the Magic" was released as the second single from the album on April 4, 2014, peaking at number twenty-two on the

and fifty-three in Australia. The band released their debut album '' Don't Kill the Magic'' on June 30, 2014. The album peaked to number 5 on the

Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Oce ...

and number 6 on the ''Billboard'' 200. On October 7, 2014, "Let Your Hair Down" was issued to contemporary hit radio by

as the third single from the album (the second to be released in the US). It peaked at number 20 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart. The official music video, directed by David Rousseau, was published online on October 31, 2014. Magic! was among the performers at the 15th Annual Latin Grammy Awards held on November 20, 2014.

Marc Anthony Marco Antonio Muñiz Rivera (born September 16, 1968), known professionally as Marc Anthony, is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is the top selling tropical salsa artist of all time. A three-time Grammy Award and six-time Latin Gr ...

joined the band on stage for a special performance of "Rude". On November 23, 2014,

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean (; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, musician, and actor. At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family. He first achieved fame as a member of the New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees, ...

and Magic! performed together at the 42nd

American Music Awards The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show, generally held in the fall, created by Dick Clark in 1973 for ABC when the network's contract to air the Grammy Awards expired, and currently produced by Dick Clark Pro ...

. From February until June 2015, Magic! opened for

Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It currently consists of lead vocalist Adam Levine, keyboardist and rhythm guitarist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, drummer Matt ...

in North America and Europe on their

Maroon V Tour The Maroon V Tour (also known as M5 On the Road Tour) was the tenth headlining concert tour by American band Maroon 5 in support of their fifth studio album '' V'' (2014) (pronounced: "five"). The tour began on February 16, 2015, in Dallas and c ...

. The band also had additional solo gigs. In March 2015, Magic! won two

Juno Awards The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

- for Breakthrough Group of the Year and Single of the Year, out of five nominations.

won the Juno Award for Producer of the Year. In April 2015, "No Way No" was released as a single. It peaked at number 23 in Canada. The official video had been uploaded on YouTube since March 2, 2015. On June 13, 2015, the band was part of the line-up at the

Pinkpop Festival The Pinkpop Festival is an annual music festival held at Landgraaf, Netherlands. It is usually held on the Pentecost weekend (''Pinksteren'' in Dutch, hence the name). If Pentecost falls on an early date in May, the festival is held later in Ju ...

. On June 22, 2015, Magic! was awarded the International Achievement Award by SOCAN at the 2015 SOCAN Awards in Toronto. On July 1, 2015, Magic! performed at

Canada Day Canada Day (french: Fête du Canada), formerly known as Dominion Day (french: Fête du Dominion), is the national day of Canada. A federal statutory holiday, it celebrates the anniversary of Canadian Confederation which occurred on July 1, 18 ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

, and later performed at the Coca-Cola Stage at the

Calgary Stampede The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, exhibition, and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ten-day event, which bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth", attracts over one million visitors per year and featu ...

on July 12, 2015. On July 17, 2015, Magic! released a new single, "#SundayFunday", this ended up being a non-album single.

2016–2017: ''Primary Colours''

On March 25, 2016, Magic! released their first single from their second album '' Primary Colours'', called "Lay You Down Easy", this was a collaboration with Sean Paul. On the evening of June 18, 2016, Magic! released their second single from "Primary Colours" called "Red Dress". The song was premiered on Apple's radio station Beats1. The band first heard the song premiered as they were broadcasting a Facebook live video to their fans. On the morning of June 20, 2016, Magic! was part of the Muscular Dystrophy Association's #LiveUnlimited, they broadcast a live rehearsal video to Facebook to raise money for MDA. The album "Primary Colours" was released on July 1, 2016. On July 2, Magic! released a special version of their song "No Regrets" in memory of the victims of the shooting on June 12, 2016, at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida. On March 10, 2017, they released a new collaboration with

Matoma Tom Stræte Lagergren (born 29 May 1991), professionally known as Matoma, is a Norwegian DJ and record producer. Early life Lagergren was born in Åsnes, Norway. He started playing the piano as a child. During that period, he won a contest t ...

and D.R.A.M. called "Girl at Coachella" on digital and streaming services. In October, they premiered their new single "Darts in the Dark."

2018-Present: ‘’Expectations’’

After some touring, they released a new single called "Kiss Me" on June 8, 2018. Their third studio album ‘’Expectations’’ was released in September 2018. In February 2022, the band announced the departure of drummer Alex Tanas.

Collaborations

Magic! is featured on

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977), professionally known by the mononym Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she has been referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular ...

's "Cut Me Deep", a track from her self-titled album, released in March 2014 and on a track on '' One Love, One Rhythm'', the official

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from ...

album titled "This Is Our Time (Agora é a Nossa Hora)" released in April. They are also featured on Sun Goes Down, a track on

David Guetta Pierre David Guetta ( , ; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and music producer. He has over 10 million album and 65 million single sales globally, with more than 10 billion streams. In 2011, 2020 and 2021, Guetta was voted the number one D ...

's album ''

Listen Listen may refer to: * The action of listening * Central auditory system listening is how the brain processes what you hear * Listening behaviour types in human communication Computing * LISTEN, a TCP connection state on the server side indi ...

'', which also features Sonny Wilson on the hook, as well as production from '' Showtek''.

Band members

Nasri Nasri ( ar, نصري, lit=support, victory, ) is a masculine given name and surname, commonly found in the Arabic language. People with this name include: Given name * Nasri (musician), Canadian singer-songwriter and producer * Nasri (Saint Ign ...

– lead vocals, guitars, piano * Mark "Pelli" Pellizzer – guitars, keyboards, backing vocals * Ben Spivak – bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals

Former

* Alex Tanas – drums, percussion, backing vocals

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

As a featured artist

Other appearances

Notes

Awards and nominations

Notes

There has been at least one significant

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

of "Rude". A remix by Russian-German producer/DJ

Zedd Anton Zaslavski (russian: Антон Заславский; born 2 September 1989), known professionally as Zedd (), is a Russian-born German DJ, record producer, and songwriter. Zedd grew up and began his musical journey in Kaiserslautern, G ...

was premiered in his set at

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...

2014. It was released on 2 September 2014, Zedd's 25th birthday. Zedd had said, "I'm gonna give myself a birthday present and release my remix of "Rude" on my bday, sept 2nd!" He also released official, completed full-length audio on his Soundcloud on 28 August 2014, which garnered nearly 400,000 plays within 24 hours. While the original was still in number-one position on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, there was speculation that release of the remix on mainstream music outlets online would assist the original song in maintaining its position on the chart.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magic! Canadian world music groups Canadian indie pop groups Musical groups from Toronto Reggae fusion groups Reggae rock groups 2012 establishments in Ontario Musical quartets Musical groups established in 2012 RCA Records artists Juno Award for Single of the Year winners Juno Award for Breakthrough Group of the Year winners